{"id":36208,"date":"2025-09-02T11:49:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T15:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=36208"},"modified":"2025-12-05T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2025-12-05T14:49:26","slug":"2025-camp-meeting-a-summers-walk-through-the-grove","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/?p=36208","title":{"rendered":"2025 Camp Meeting: A Summer’s Walk Through the Grove"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pitman United Methodist Church has its roots in the Camp Meetings<\/a> which gathered in a place that was then known as Pitman Grove.\u00a0 In the 154 years that have past since then, the town of Pitman sprouted out around from the Grove, the Pitman Methodist Episcopal Church was founded, and the church eventually became the Pitman United Methodist Church.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

But beyond history and tradition, the Pitman Camp Meeting is a series of weekly opportunities on the Sundays during the summer.\u00a0 These summer evenings are opportunities to sing, pray, and celebrate with our community and to catch up with friends who attend different churches.\u00a0 But more importantly, these evenings are opportunities to grow closer to Christ.\u00a0 Most of the host churches each week are United Methodist, but even within that commonality we are able to hear fresh perspectives from a variety of speakers.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

This summer was no different.\u00a0 During the schedule’s six weeks (from July 13 through August 24), we were challenged by topics ranging from how to see God, when to pray, and how to appreciate the magnitude of God’s goodness, righteousness, and forgiveness.\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

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“In the Garden”…<\/span><\/h3>\n

One tradition of the Pitman Camp Meeting is to open the service by singing “In the Garden<\/a>” (by C. Austin Miles<\/a>).\u00a0 Years ago, C. Austin Miles was a resident of Pitman, and it is said that he wrote his famous Easter hymn while inspired by the Pitman Camp Meetings.\u00a0 On that first Easter morning, Mary and the other women encountered the risen Jesus in a Garden.\u00a0 It was a personal and heartfelt conversation, and it all started when Jesus called Mary by name<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Our risen Savior reaches out to each of us personally.\u00a0 Like Mary at the garden tomb and like the two disciples walking with Jesus on the Road to Emmaus<\/a>, we too can know Jesus on a personal level.\u00a0 Our summer evenings in the Grove remind us that we can walk with Jesus in our own “gardens”.<\/p>\n

Below is a glimpse into each of those six weeks.\u00a0 Under each week’s heading, beneath the gallery of photos, click the “drop down box” to view a summary of that evening’s message.<\/p>\n

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The following descriptions of the messages were made from my notes that I made as I sat in the “pews” (ok, bench) as a member of the congregation. The titles and summaries are made with the intent of representing the messages as closely as possible, but it is likely that they are influenced by my own personal interpretation and “spin”.<\/span><\/p>\n

To view the summary of each message, click the\u00a0 “drop down” box that’s directly under each photo gallery…<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

-Chuck<\/span><\/p><\/div><\/div>\n

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==== WEEK 1 (July 13) ===<\/span><\/h2>\n